Suit claims nooses signaled hostile workplace

Published 5:00 am, Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A federal court jury being selected today will consider claims by seven FMC Technologies employees that nooses found hanging at a plant symbolized discrimination and a hostile environment within the oil and gas equipment company.

The seven, including six African-Americans and one West Indian, also allege in their lawsuit that co-workers used racial slurs and that complaints to human resources were ignored. Jury selection is set to begin today before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, for a trial expected to last about four weeks.

"The employees have been treated poorly for years," said Joe Alioto Veronese, an employment lawyer in San Francisco who is representing the workers. "Our clients are finally getting a chance to tell their stories."

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FMC officials contend, however, that the three nooses they acknowledge appeared between September 2007 and May 2008 did not stem from corporate tolerance of racist attitudes, and that the company investigated and did not tolerate racial slurs at its facilities.

The company quickly terminated the contract workers who confessed to placing the nooses or who failed to report them, said Kerry Notestine, an employment lawyer with Littler Mendelson in Houston.

After the first noose was spotted, FMC Technologies launched an immediate investigation, reminded employees of its toll-free ethics hot line and urged employees who believed they were harassed or witnessed harassment to come forward, said Maryann Seaman, vice president, treasurer and deputy chief financial officer.

The company's response escalated when the second noose was found a month later. Officials sent letters to black community leaders, notified the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Justice Department, and dropped one of its contractors when it failed to undertake the same scrutiny of its harassment policies, Seaman said.

President and CEO Peter Kinnear told employees in a letter that the company had terminated the workers involved in the noose incidents, adding, "FMC Technologies — and I personally -will not tolerate racial harassment or any other forms of harassment."

Veronese, who alleges there were nine nooses at the workplace, disputes the notion that FMC responded properly. "That's why nooses keep coming out," he said.

The case initially included 12 current and former employees, but Hoyt dismissed some of the claims. Five workers recently reached a confidential out-of-court settlement.

Kinnear sent letters to several leaders in the black community, including state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, asking for their assistance.

"While I am of the belief that we are responding as we should to these incidents, it is important to me to consult with others in our community, such as yourself, who might provide some insight and guidance," he wrote in the letter to Ellis. "Our company has not had this type of incident before and, thus, we may not have contemplated all appropriate measures in response."